The call that was not a call: the rejection email after the final, how to read it, and the six month reapplication that worked
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#1 Cork, rejected after the Emirates final in July, and I wrote the feedback thread about 'not enough depth'. This is the other half: the rejection email itself, what it says and does not say, and the plan for January, because the golden call board is full of calls and the people who got the other email need a thread too.
The email
Arrived at 09:14 on a Tuesday, eight weeks after the final. Subject line neutral. Three paragraphs: thank you for your interest, we will not be progressing your application at this time, you are welcome to reapply after six months. No reason. No score. A link to the careers page. That is the whole email, and every rejected candidate I have compared with got the same three paragraphs.
What it says
That the decision is made and will not be reversed by a reply. That the six months is real and the reapplication is a real option (Redlipstickclub and Zainab on this forum are the proof). And that you will not be told why, unless you ask, politely, and get lucky, which I did.
What it does not say
That you were bad. The final interview cut is large and the candidates cut are not the worst ones, they are the ones who were not the best on the day. That you are blacklisted. That the next open day will remember you. None of that is true.
The first week
Worse than the waiting. The waiting had hope in it. The first week after the email has none and it is the week to let it be bad and not make decisions. I did not reapply anywhere for a week. I did not read the golden call threads. I went to work at the shop and was very good at my job because it was something to be good at.
The plan for January
The feedback ('not enough depth') turned into a method (two minute answers with the actions in steps and the outcome). Eight stories rewritten. Practised out loud with a friend who is a teacher and merciless. The photo redone. The CV rewritten with Zainab's numbers rule. A Qatar application in as well, because the five application rule applies to the rejected as much as anyone. And the open day in Dublin in January, which I will walk into knowing exactly what the hall looks like, which is an advantage the first timers do not have.
For the ones who got the email this week
Let the week be bad. Then ask for feedback, politely, once. Then rebuild the specific thing. Then reapply, and apply elsewhere too. The golden call board will have your post in it. It just has a longer timeline.
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#2 Rejected at the final in my first attempt, called in the second, five years in. Keira has the plan exactly and the 'you will walk into the hall knowing what it looks like' advantage is real and underrated. January. I will be watching for your post.
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#3 Rejected at BA, reapplied, joining in November. The first week being bad and not making decisions is the right instruction. I applied to three airlines in the first week out of panic and withdrew all three. Let the week pass. Then the method.
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#4 Waiting on my Emirates result and this thread has prepared me for both emails, which is a strange gift. Thank you for writing the half of the board nobody writes.
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#6 Ex crew who helped at open days, and 'the ones cut at the final were not the worst, they were not the best on the day' is exactly true and exactly what candidates need to hear. The reapplication with the specific fix has a better rate than the first application. The recruiters know the ones who came back.
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#7 Joburg open day in a month and I have read the golden call thread, the arrival thread, and now the rejection thread, and I am prepared for every outcome, which is the most useful thing this forum has done for me. See you in one of the threads.